Editorial:
Public safety blocks student voice
Originally published in the April 2104 issue of the Mountaineer and on Mountiewire.com
The Mt. SAC Public Safety Department has stopped direct communication to the student media (The Mountaineer, mountiewire.com, Substance Magazine) and now refer all inquiries from student journalists to the Mt. SAC Marketing Department. According to Director of Parking Services Michael Montoya, public safety officers are not allowed to speak to any media.
By not speaking directly to student reporters and forcing student journalists to contact the Mt. SAC marketing department, Public Safety not only prevents staff writers and reporters from doing their job, but also violates the First Amendment Rights of the officers.
There are many reasons why it is important for students to know what is happening on campus, whether or not they seek out the information on their own. Information needs to be available to the student media.
The communication flow between the Mountaineer staff and Mt. SAC Public Safety has, for the past couple of years, been difficult. Between denying photographers access to scenes in public spaces citing the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act HIPPA and threatening staff reporters with disciplinary action for inquiring about any specific incident, the department has thus limited the information we are able to present to the campus community.
First, let’s examine Mt. SAC Public Safety officer’s claims that photographing students, faculty and staff on campus in the event of a medical emergency, stabbing, accident, etc. is a violation of their HIPAA rights. This is untrue. Director of Public Safety Mark DiMaggio has admitted on several occasions that he is aware that HIPAA laws do not apply. He has also admitted that his officers were wrong on several occasions in citing HIPPA yet this has not stopped these officers from continuing to block access, withhold information, and threatening to remove student reporters from the scene while citing an invasion of HIPAA laws as the reason.
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a law intended to make it easier for people to keep their health insurance when they change jobs. The law set standards for the electronic exchange of patient information, including protecting the privacy of such records. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the Privacy Rule to implement that aspect of the law, and its Office of Civil Rights is in charge of enforcing it.
For example, hospitals will no longer give out the names and conditions of accident victims unless the reporters know each victim’s name, and then only general information will be provided. Covered entities are health plans (including health insurance companies and employer sponsored health plans), health care clearinghouses, and health care providers that engage in defined electronic standard transactions, which generally relate to insurance reimbursement.
To clarify, HIPPA does not bar student journalists from interviewing people or photographing individuals. So why is Mt. SAC Public Safety so uninformed?
Recently, a medical emergency in the new design building, Bldg. 13, occurred. I responded, as I always do, when sirens are heard on campus by running to the building with a photographer to investigate. Upon arriving, there was a fire truck, paramedic, ambulance and a Mt. SAC Public Safety vehicle. I entered the building wearing my Mountaineer press pass and was told by Mt. SAC Public Safety Officer Alejandro Villegas that I was not allowed to be on the scene and that I was violating HIPAA law. He went on to block the door and said the student was a minor thus I had no right to be on the scene. He allowed the student’s professor in, but blocked me out. He threatened to write me up for a disciplinary action and stood in front of the photographer who was there to take photos.
When a student was stabbed on Miracle Mile on Sept. 12, I arrived to find a student who was stabbed holding his alleged attacker. I began to photograph the scene and was told that I was violating HIPAA. Knowing my rights, I continued to photograph and began interviewing students. A Mt. SAC public safety officer then told me that I could not interview students. This is an absolute violation of my First Amendment Rights, as well as those of the officer’s prohibited from speaking.
Numerous Mountaineer photographers and writers have been told that taking photos or recording during a medical emergency is violating the victims right to privacy.
Here are the facts. The Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LeMonte said that some officers do not understand journalist’s rights when they are reporting. “Police do not understand there is an absolute right to film, record, and photograph them in a public space,” said Le Monte.
“There is nothing private about having an emergency in a public space.”
LeMonte said that journalists are entitled to the same access as the general public. “To single out a journalist violates their First Amendment Rights.” LeMonte added that it is not the responsibility of officers to peruse privacy claims, that is a civil matter.
“Invasion of privacy is a civil claim brought by the person, who can then file a civil suit.” LaMonte also said that student journalists having to go through marketing is an unnecessary bureaucracy that hinders the flow of information.
“Spokespeople don’t work 24–7 and crime and news doesn’t wait,” LaMonte said.
Clarence Brown, Director of Marketing and Communication, confirmed that all media relations for Public Safety were to be handled through marketing.
I also spoke with Director of Parking Services Michael Montoya who said if a major event like a shooting occurs, student journalists should contact marketing. He also cited HIPAA again as reason for officers not speaking to the student media, once again stating misinformation.
Another major issue in the release of public information is the distribution of the Public Safety Crime Log. Student journalists have to arrange via email with the secretary at Public Safety to get a copy printed of the previous month. It is a federal regulation that the crime log must be up to date within 48 hours. LaMonte said that if the crime log is not up to date, then Public Safety is not keeping up with requirements outlined in the Clery Act. LaMonte said that the student media has every right to pick up the current crime log, weekly, monthly or even daily, if requested. This is not the case with Mt. SAC Public Safety.
We at the Mountaineer will continue to serve our student body and report the news despite any and all setbacks placed in our way by the Mt. SAC Public Safety. Help continue the fight for transparency and stand with the student media in order that we may continue to report the facts, expose the falsehoods, and all that is in between.
Albert Serna for The Mountaineer
Originally published at mountiewire.com.
